The increasingly bloody tumult in Syrian cities is sending forceful ripples throughout neighboring Israel, The Washington Post reported Tuesday, May 8. Israeli officials, who for months were reluctant to discuss the fate of a hostile Syrian regime with which they have a long-held truce, are increasingly calling for its ouster. The revolution has become so bloody that Israeli officials now believe Assad cannot possibly regain control, and they fear a messy collapse could allow Syria’s arsenals to fall into the hands of Hizballah. But Israel increasingly sees opportunity in the Syria uprising. Assad’s fall would remove a regime that sought nuclear weapons and stockpiled chemical weapons, and it would enfeeble Syria’s patron, Iran. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Monday that “whatever follows Assad’s bloodstained regime will be greeted with Israel’s extended hand for peace.”